Lubbock City Council to consider executive assistant position during Thursday council meeting

Just because Lubbock has $180,000 in projected extra sales tax revenue, it doesn’t mean the city has to spend it all, Mayor Glen Robertson said in pushing a staffing change he hopes will save money and help the City Council.

But council members have mixed opinions of Robertson’s plan to eliminate the position of executive assistant to the mayor to offset the cost of the new executive assistant to the City Council position. The council voted 5-2 to create the new position in October.

The council is set to vote on the proposal at its meeting starting at 6:15 p.m. today at City Hall.

“I cannot in good conscience be a part of adding another position when we do not have enough work for the staff we currently have,” Robertson said in a statement when he proposed the switch. “I am asking that the receptionist position start helping with my calls and scheduling. I am hopeful that this will satisfy the council’s perceived need for additional help and at the same time not put an extra tax burden on our citizens.”

Councilman Jim Gerlt on Wednesday said he is encouraged by Robertson’s suggestion.

“I kind of had to swallow the pill in the vote to hire that assistant last month,” he said.

Gerlt said he reluctantly supported the council’s Oct. 11 decision to use about $52,000 of $182,000 in projected extra sales tax revenue to fund the new council support position, including salary and benefits.

Both he and Councilwoman Karen Gibson were in favor of hiring two new auditors, but said they saw no need for an additional assistant to the council.

Councilman Todd Klein favors keeping the new council assistant without removing the mayor’s assistant.

“I think expanding that area is a great move,” he said. “This is about making sure we provide thorough service to the citizens of Lubbock.”

The mayor’s proposal would result in two executive assistants serving the council under the City Secretary’s Office, with Robertson adding he does not need an executive assistant of his own.

Robertson said he underuses his assistant and believes her time could be better spent helping the council.

“I’m a low-maintenance mayor,” he said. “I can write my own letters and do my own research.”

The mayor’s current executive assistant, Elisa Sanchez, makes about $38,400, not including health and insurance benefits, according to data provided by the city.

Robertson said he will recommend the City Manager’s Office consider Sanchez for the new council assistant and have the money from the eliminated position shifted to the city’s general fund.

The council and mayor also are supported by a receptionist, who also takes calls for the city finance department, city managers and other city administrators on the second floor.

Only one person, an administrative assistant to the City Council, Sarah Hensley, currently helps the council in research, writing proposals and assisting in work with constituents, said Councilman Victor Hernandez.

Hensley declined to comment for this story.

Both Councilman Floyd Price and Gerlt agreed the council has a need for assistants.

“We work the hound out of them,” Gerlt said.

Gerlt said he and other council members forward citizens’ questions or concerns to Hensley so she can connect the citizen with the proper city department, keeping the council member updated on the results.

“I’ve probably had about 50 or more of those situations in the short time I’ve been on council,” he said. Gerlt was sworn in June 29.

Price said he would not commit Wednesday to how he would vote on the mayor’s proposal.

“I always wait and see what the outcome of the discussion is before I make a decision,” he said.

Hernandez, who advocated for the new assistant position, said he was open to the mayor’s suggestion of vacating the mayor’s executive assistant position.

“That might be a good short-term solution,” he said. “But I’m thinking about when the mayor leaves. A new mayor might want the secretary back.”

Hernandez said the council at one time early in his 12-year tenure had as many as four or five administrative assistants and a chief of staff. All but Hensley’s position were eliminated over the years as the council looked to make cuts.

“The truth is, council members need staff support in order to do their job effectively,” Hernandez said last week. “I could use 100 percent of the time of our assistant.”

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Source: City of Lubbock

Management Assistant to the City Council

Job summary:

Performs professional administrative work as staff assistant to the mayor and City Council.

Essential functions:

■ Work directly with mayor and City Council members regarding their responses to citizen inquiries, and assist elected officials with their public relations and customer service activities;

■ Research, communicate and coordinate directly with mayor and City Council members on issues, inquiries, special projects and other assignments related to the officials’ work with the public;

■ Draft correspondence, reports, speeches and memoranda as necessary and as requested by the

mayor and City Council members;

■ Organize and make appropriate preparations for meetings and special events involving the mayor and

City Council, including accompanying the elected official outside the city to assist them with their public service mission;

■ Assist in budget preparation and maintain records of budget status;

■ Conduct inquiries of routine personnel utilization and training to ensure the work flow of the City

Council offices is performed at an optimum level of administrative support;

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Calling on Runningfordistrict1, maybe you should make it official. We need someone on the council without agendas, i.e. creating projects for McDougal, pushing his Dems R US agenda, boring us with his frivolous IPad posts demonstrating his overindulgence (food).

Message to Hernandez: Take on some real issues, do some good for your district. And the next time y'all send Leo Flores on a sting operation, have some backup for him. At least be on standby in case it backfires.

The mayor's secretary according to himself isn't working very hard at all. Jim Gerlt says "We work the hound out of them". So move the mayors secretary where she will have work to do. At the same time I saw the mayors new chair cost $1300. Is that all the taxpayers spent on his new digs? Then the audit thing! Why did the council have to learn from a volunteer citizen committee that audits were way behind? Isn't the city manager supposed to be on top of this. Was she uninformed or hiding infromation!

The more staff the council has to "do their job" the more regulations and tax increases they come up with. I say we get rid of all of their assistants, and make them do their job themselves. That way they will have less time to come up with regulations and new ways to tax us.

Total salary for all the city council members is $225.00 a month! @ serveJesusChrist would not take the job for the money. In the mean time the mayor had his office redone to the tune of $25,000. On camera for KAMC he admitted that he asked the city manger for a new chair but had no idea it cost $1300. Was he also clueless to the fact that his office got bigger and had all new furniture? He didn't notice the wall had moved? At Victors Facebook page he details $12,000 spent in new office furnishings and unknown sums spent to remove a wall, repaint, recarpet and get the electrical changed. This true cost has been buried by the city manager and will never be known. Now we have all this issue of support. Someone to answer the phones and directly talk to taxpayers is a problem, the mayor says they don't work much. The mayor also said that he only asked for an office chair